Got our Wolf Pup 16 BHS and towed it 3 hrs home. I looked at the side mirrors more than out the windshield. Sway was bad. Bought an E2 hitch with sway control. Our next trip was 10 hrs to Gulf State Park in Alabama. What a difference the hitch made. Absolutely no worries. You may not "need" the WDH but it is worth the money if for nothing more than a worry free drive.

the engineer wasn't recommending an over sized hitch, he was answering my question of "is it okay for me to use my 1000# hitch(which I already had) on a lighter trailer?"......maybe that's not the ideal situation , but that was the situation at that time,.........he could have given me a typical "cover your butt" answer, and said, "oh no, that won't do at all, you need to buy another hitch",.......but he was honest about it, and took the time to explain why and how mine was usable, ......... so I think I'll just stand by his statement, I believe he knows what he's talking about..................

The problem with too stiff of a spring bar is that while, yes they will do the job of bringing the front end down, they won't flex like they are designed to if they are too stiff for the application. In effect, you're fusing the truck and trailer between axles and that can lead to a bumpy ride at times and possibly control issues if it's extreme on bumpy roads or such.

Looks like people here have 2 schools of thought too. While it's overkill with the 800/8000 WDH, I think that adjusting it down to the lower end would be better than exceeding the hitch tongue weight. I have a 2016 Tundra with a 9500 tow rating and a 1410 payload so it's not really a case of "needing" a WDH but I want a level load and integrated anti-sway. Keep the experiences coming.

This is your first TT and probably not your last. Think of the future and buy a WDH that is more than you need for this trailer. If you upgrade later you will not regret it. Buy it over sized now and save yourself when you need the over sized one for the next trailer.

What you are stating now,

Quote:

Originally Posted by fella10

the engineer wasn't recommending an over sized hitch, he was answering my question of "is it okay for me to use my 1000# hitch(which I already had) on a lighter trailer?"......maybe that's not the ideal situation , but that was the situation at that time,.........he could have given me a typical "cover your butt" answer, and said, "oh no, that won't do at all, you need to buy another hitch",.......but he was honest about it, and took the time to explain why and how mine was usable, ......... so I think I'll just stand by his statement, I believe he knows what he's talking about..................

is a far cry from what was stated above (originally), which is what I object to. It is one thing to go a bit under the rated weight. But, the original statement doesn't say or imply that. By the logic originally stated, the OP might chose a great hitch like an Equal-i-zer in the 1400 lb version so he never needed another one.

Nor, does it address the OP pulling a lightweight trailer with a 2500 (ie stiff suspension) which is a fair bit different than your F150 in itself. He doesn't own a hitch and need to use that one in a pinch, he is contemplating buying a new one. He probably won't be happy with the suspension advantage and an overrated hitch. He should buy one that matches what he owns.
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Looks like people here have 2 schools of thought too. While it's overkill with the 800/8000 WDH, I think that adjusting it down to the lower end would be better than exceeding the hitch tongue weight. I have a 2016 Tundra with a 9500 tow rating and a 1410 payload so it's not really a case of "needing" a WDH but I want a level load and integrated anti-sway. Keep the experiences coming.

You want your W/D system to be able to provide enough force, but not too much. If your tongue weight including anything in the truck bed behind the axle is 810 lbs, you need a hitch rated a little higher than that. In most cases, that would probably be 1000 lb rating. You would not want a 1400 lb hitch for this case. If that weight is 650 lbs, that would likely be an 800 lbs hitch requirement. In this case, it would not be 1000 lb hitch. So over, but not too much over.

Looks like people here have 2 schools of thought too. While it's overkill with the 800/8000 WDH, I think that adjusting it down to the lower end would be better than exceeding the hitch tongue weight. I have a 2016 Tundra with a 9500 tow rating and a 1410 payload so it's not really a case of "needing" a WDH but I want a level load and integrated anti-sway. Keep the experiences coming.

It's not really overkill. That 800 lbs is the max those bars are designed for. You can exceed it, but they'll be much less effective and maybe not useful at all. They won't lever enough force as they'll bend too easily. The bars will have a range on them generally. From my experience, usually about 200 lbs (so, let's say 600-800 lbs on a 800 lb set of bars ). You can go under it, but if you put 600 lbs on a 1200 lb set of bars, for instance, you'll likely bounce yourself all over the place because they won't have enough weight on them to bend. Estimating you to be in the low to mid 600 range, I still say 800 is your best bet.

Something to consider....since you've got a 3/4 ton, you probably won't need the WDH in your trailer weight range due to your stiffer suspension and heavier truck. If this were me (take it for what it's worth) I'd just get a friction sway bar and hitch adapter and forego the WDH until I saw how it pulled. If I decided I needed it afterwards, I'd just get a WDH without sway and use the sway I already had. Those units are generally cheaper than the ones with sway built in, so it wouldn't cost any more. If you find you didn't need it, you saved yourself a few hundred dollars.